Christine Alfono, 29, of St. Paul, Minn., and Barbara Kearney, 28, of New Jersey were hungry but not injured. They were taken by helicopter from a Ka'au Crater ridge to Palolo Recreation Center field at 6:12 a.m.

Alfono called 911 with her cellular telephone last night at 8:30 to request assistance. Because of hazardous weather conditions and the fact that the women were not injured or in danger, they agreed to stay in the valley overnight, Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said.

A Fire Rescue specialist was airlifted to their location at 5:45 a.m. and assisted the women to a higher location, where they were picked up by helicopter.

"We are so grateful to the Fire Department, police and EMS for what they did," said Alfono, who is working on her doctorate in fisheries and wildlife at the University of Minnesota. "They were so nice. I called (Fire Dispatch) a couple of times during the night."

Alfono, who has been in Hawai'i for two months working with Western Pacific Fisheries, is leaving Sept. 30 for Antarctica.

Kearney, who arrived here last week for a vacation, and Alfono decided to hike into Palolo Valley at noon yesterday.

"The trail is very rocky and steep and you're scaling up a waterfall," Alofono said. "Once we got to the top it started raining really hard. We tried to hike out by a different route but it was too muddy and dangerous."

Alfono said she always carries a cellular telephone because she does a lot of field work in remote areas. "We called from the top of the ridge," she said.

"We were told that it would be treacherous for them to get us and we agreed to spend the night. It was really cold."

The Fire Department, meanwhile, suspended a search in Manoa Valley today until there is confirmation a hiker is missing.